PAVE

An early Pave Sword laser pod on a F-4D during the Vietnam War, 1971.

PAVE is a United States Air Force program identifier relating to electronic systems. Prior to 1979, Pave was said to be a code word for the Air Force unit responsible for the project.<ref name=ADA088323>Template:Cite report</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pave was used as an inconsequential prefix identifier for a wide range of different programs,<ref name=HAER>Template:Cite report</ref> though backronyms and alternative meanings have been used.<ref name="Aerofiles">Template:Cite web</ref> For example, in the helicopters Pave Low and Pave Hawk it was said to mean Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment,<ref name="Aerofiles" /> but in PAVE PAWS it was said to mean Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry.<ref name=HAER />

PAVE systems

• Pave Aegis – Refit of AC-130 gunships with a 105mm cannon<ref name=HobsonLovelady>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave Arrow – Development of AN/AVQ-14 laser tracking pod for use with AN/AVQ-12 Pave Spot laser designator on C-123K Provider and O-2A Skymaster forward air control aircraft<ref name=MIL828>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave Buff – Pathfinder bombing operation using two LORAN-C/D AN/ARN-92 receiver equipped B-52D Stratofortress bombers to lead a three-aircraft cell of B-52s to a target in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave COIN/Project Little Brother - A USAF program evaluating counter insurgency aircraft during the early 1970s.
• Pave Cricket – Boeing CEM-138 electronic countermeasures mini drone, a CQM-121A Pave Tiger equipped with a jamming system. Program cancelled.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave Eagle – Modified Beechcraft Bonanza drone aircraft for low altitude sensor monitoring.
• Pave Gat – Program to develop a laser rangefinder for the B-52G StratofortressTemplate:R
• Pave Hawk – Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk special operations and combat search and rescue helicopter.
• Pave Knife – Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-10 early laser targeting pod.
• Pave Lance – Program to replace the Pave Knife AN/AVQ-10 adding forward looking infrared (FLIR) capability in place of low light level television (LLLTV), but Pave Tack development of AN/AVQ-26 took priorityTemplate:R
• Pave Light – Development of a stabilized laser designator, the AN/AVQ-9, for F-4 Phantom II aircraftTemplate:R
• Pave Low – Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low special ops and combat search and rescue helicopter.
• Pave Mack – Laser seeker head development program for air-to-surface missiles, also referred to as LARS (Laser Aided Rocket System) for use with the AN/AVQ-12 Pave Spot laser designatorTemplate:R
• Pave Mint – Upgrade of the AN/ALQ-117 electronic warfare system to the AN/ALQ-172.
• Pave Mover – Demonstration program to develop the AN/APY-7 radar wide-area surveillance, ground moving target indicator (GMTI), fixed target indicator (FTI) target classification, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for the E-8 Joint STARS.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave Nail - AN/AVQ-13 stabilized periscopic laser designator aboard North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco with AN/AVQ-12 Pave Spot target laser designator pod.
• Pave Onyx – Vietnam era Advanced Location Strike System c.1973.<ref name=SmithByrd>Template:Cite report</ref>
• Pave Pace – A fully integrated avionics architecture featuring functional resource allocation.
• PAVE PAWS – The Phased-Array Warning System which replaced the three BMEWS radars. Pave in this case is a backronym for Perimeter<ref name=Winkler>Template:Cite report</ref> or Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry.<ref name=HAER>Template:Cite report</ref>
• Pave Penny – Lockheed-Martin AN/AAS-35(V) laser spot tracker.
• Pave Pepper – An Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization project to decrease the size of the Minuteman III warheads allowing more to be launched by one missile.
• Pave Phantom – Long Range Navigation (LORAN-D) AN/ARN-92 and computer added to F-4D Phantom II storing information for 8 different targets designated by the OV-10 Bronco with the Pave Nail AN/AVQ-13 designatorTemplate:R
• Pave Pillar – Generic core avionics architecture system for combat aircraft.
• Pave Pointer – C-123K Provider palletized laser designator/rangefinder/low light level television system used as a Gun Direction PlatformTemplate:R
• Pave Prism – Infrared and active laser seekers development for use on the AIM-132 air-to-air missileTemplate:R
• Pave Pronto – Lockheed AC-130 Spectre gunship program adding a night observation camera, AN/AAD-4 or AN/AAD-6 FLIR, and AN/AVQ-17 illuminator.Template:R
• Pave Scope – Development of target acquisition aids like TISEO and the Honeywell AN/AVG-8 Eagle Eye Visual Target Acquistion Set (VTAS) helmet sighting systemTemplate:R<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave Spectre – Lockheed AC-130E gunships.<ref name=HobsonLovelady/>
• Pave Spike – Westinghouse AN/ASQ-153, AN/AVQ-23 electro-optical laser designator pod.
• Pave Spot – AN/AVQ-12 stabilized periscopic night vision sight laser designator pod developed for use on the O-2A SkymasterTemplate:R
• Pave Sword – AN/AVQ-11 laser tracker for F-4 Phantom II aircraft.Template:R
• Pave Tack – Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-26 electro-optical targeting pod, first used on F-4 Phantom II and later on F-111F Aardvark aircraft.
• Pave Tiger – Boeing designed drone (CQM-121A) for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses. CGM-121B was code named Seek Spinner.<ref name=CGM121>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pave Way – Project to develop a series of laser-guided bombs developed by Texas Instruments

See also

• Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS)
• LANTIRN

References

Bibliography

• Template:Cite web - Contains a list of PAVE program names relating to Laser Guided bombs
• Template:Citation